Moyes wise in appointing Giggs and Neville as coaches

Ryan Giggs has been appointed as a player-coach at United, while Phil Nevile is set to take up a first team coaching role

Manchester United boss David Moyes has been in the job less than a week and he has already made his mark at the club.

The Scot has appointed some of his own coaching staff, but the inclusion of Ryan Giggs and soon-to-be inclusion of Phil Neville on his coaching staff should prove a wise move.

Loss

Manchester United have lost some very influential backroom staff this summer. The likes of Mike Phelan and Rene Meulensteen, both played a crucial part in Sir Alex Ferguson’s backroom staff and have left the club this summer.

Whether David Moyes would have wanted them to stay I do not know, but Moyes like most bosses would want his own team in place on his coaching staff.

They are the people that work most closely with Moyes and the players. The Scot needs his own people around him.

New

Moyes has brought in Steve Round as his assistant boss, while the experienced Jimmy Lumsden will be a first team coach, and former-England goalkeeper Chris Wood will be goalkeeping coach. That is a lot of new additions to United’s backroom staff.

Continuity

With so many new additions to the backroom staff, United needed to ensure there is some sort of stability on the coaching staff. The inclusion of Neville and Giggs on the United coaching staff will at least mean there are two people in the coaching setup that know the club inside-out.

Inexperienced

Neither Neville nor Giggs have any real experience of coaching. Neville has worked with the England under-21 team. However, it was not exactly extensive experience. Giggs has no coaching experience, but is due to obtain his UEFA Pro License this summer.

Neville currently holds a UEFA B License. Both will be expected to continue their coaching education while working on the United backroom staff.

Experienced

Although the pair lack coaching experience, both have a wealth of playing experience and that will be a major plus as they attempt to make their name as coaches in their own right. Giggs has played over 1,000 games for Manchester United.

Neville has played over 500 games for United and Everton in his career. The 36-year-old has always been a leader on the pitch and those leadership skills will be invaluable as he embarks on his new career as a coach.

Neville was always David Moyes’ right hand man on the pitch at Everton, as he captained the Toffees for much of his eight-year stay at Goodison Park.

Winners

Another positive for United of Giggs and Neville being on the coaching staff is that both have experienced tremendous success with the Red Devils. They know what it takes for a player to be a success at such a mammoth club.

Moyes failed to win a trophy in 11 years at Everton, so both could probably teach the Scot a thing or two about winning silverware. They will be there to ensure that the winning mentality remains within the players, especially Giggs, who spent his whole career under the tutelage of Sir Alex Ferguson.

Long-term

Even if David Moyes is unsuccessful at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs and Phil Neville look destine to have long careers as coaches. The appointment of the pair is a long-term one. Both will have learnt a lot about coaching from Sir Alex and that seems to be a successful route into management.

Premier League bosses Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce both played under the veteran Scot at United and they have gone on to have decent careers in management.

Unsurprising

It really would not surprise me if Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs both went on to become managers in the future. They have taken their first steps into coaching and the move should prove beneficial to everybody involved, including United boss Moyes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Nugent

David is a freelance football writer with nearly a decade of experience writing about the beautiful game. The 33-year-old has written for over a dozen websites and also an international soccer magazine offline.
Arguably his best work has come as an editorial writer for Soccernews, sharing his good, bad and ugly opinions on the world’s favourite sport. During David’s writing career he has written editorials, betting previews, match previews, banter, news and opinion pieces.

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